this is america's laser weapons for jets fighter
america's next generation laser weapons are coming a new laser weapon developed by the u.s air force
successfully shot down several missiles during a test run in late april it destroys missiles
instead of confusing or misdirecting them lockheed martin is working toward outfitting a directed
energy system on fighter jets by the middle shell we are committing to putting a laser pod equipped
with a high energy laser in the air within five years said mark steven business development lead
for strategic technology development at lockheed martin's missiles and fire control division
the company is a core member of an industry team partnering for the air force research laboratory
self-protect high energy laser demonstrator or shield program steven said during a virtual media
roundtable in september afrl is developing a direct and energy system on an aircraft pod
that will demonstrate self-defense against surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles
the organization said in a press release the effort is meant to inform requirements for a
tactical airborne laser weapon program of record in the mid-2020s steven noted
lockheed martin is also partnering with the air force navy and army to develop other directed
energy capabilities these systems will defend u.s forces against threats such as rockets small
drones and small attack boats said rob mansfield senior manager of business development for laser
and sensor systems within lockheed martin's integrated warfare system and sensors business
one aspect of the technology the company has been focused on perfecting is its beam
director steven said the beam director is the optical system that puts the high
energy light on target and keeps it there with enough precision to defeat the threat he said
we spent several years developing producible low size weight and power and low-cost tactical beam
directors in-house the technology will first be demonstrated on an army application the indirect
fire protection capability high energy laser he noted this is a 300 kilowatt class laser weapon
system which mounts on the ground vehicle to defeat drones rockets artillery and mortars
mansfield said the demonstration is expected to take place by late 2021
the company has also established a new directed energy system integration lab in orlando florida
to test high energy lasers and beam directors as it integrates them into pods steven said
by 2021 this lab will be certified to test high-energy laser outfits up to 50 kilowatts
and will allow firing of 150 kilowatt class lasers by 2024 steven noted
to build and manufacture the systems the company is investing more than 20 million dollars into
its orlando-based optical component center u.s fighter jets could soon be armed with lasers
a laser weapon called the self-protect high-energy laser demonstrator or shield passed a crucial
test last month designed to defend u.s air force aircraft from inbound air-to-air missiles shield
torched several missiles in flight defensive lasers could revolutionize aerial warfare and lead
to a second revolution with even more profound implications for air warfare offensive lasers
air-to-air missiles guided missiles launched by an aircraft and another aircraft were first developed
in the 1940s previously aircraft could only shoot down other aircraft within range of their guns
but the advent of jet engines made aircraft faster and able to swiftly move out of gun range
a guided weapon that could chase down even jet aircraft became a priority
and soon air forces of the world were fielding both infrared and laser-guided weapons
active defense lasers like shield promise to seriously upset air warfare flares chaff and
electronic warfare are three ways to prevent an air-to-air missile from hitting its target
there are also passive defenses making no attempt to actually down the missile but instead to
confuse the missile and prevent it from hitting the target active defense actually shooting
down incoming missiles is so hard that until now nobody's bothered the small size of such missiles
and the possibility that they could come from all directions makes them difficult to shoot down
until now if the program continues to be successful an aircraft armed with shield
would be protected from incoming missiles like never before enemy aircraft might need to fire
multiple missiles at laser protected fighters in order to overwhelm their defenses aircraft could
press their attacks not taking evasive action knowing that a weapon-like shield protects them
lasers can neutralize missiles in a variety of ways a laser can damage the sensors in a missile
seeker particularly an infrared seeker preventing it from following its target a laser could also
damage the body or control surfaces of a missile rendering it unable to maneuver or causing it to
aerodynamically fail finally the extreme heat of a laser could ignite any remaining rocket motor
propellant or the explosive warhead in the future fighter jets may be forced to carry more missiles
than they do now in order to overwhelm an enemy airplane's laser defenses arguably however it may
never get to that because the next revolution in aerial warfare triggered by laser weapons is right
around the corner when aircraft lasers become even more powerful they could be used in an offensive
manner replacing missiles and guns as the means to down enemy aircraft shield is merely the beginning
a fire control system designed to acquire track and engage small air-to-air missiles could easily
do the same against much larger manned and unmanned aircraft a laser weapon traveling
at 186 000 miles per second moves far too fast to deploy countermeasures making it difficult to beat
how this affects war in the air is a good question but its implications for pilots and
their flying machines is undeniable thanks for watching and don't forget to subscribe
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